Coolest Zebra Pattern Baby Shower Cake 17

This was the third zebra pattern cake I've made. I like to use MMF because it is tintable into every color and easy to play with. I feel like it's grown-up play-dough!

This person wanted a cheetah and zebra print cake in pink and black for a baby shower. I tried and tried to get a good cheetah print going but I didn't like how any of it was turning out (I tried for days, different stamps, cutting out shapes, free hand painting--just need more practice or suggestions).

So, I believe it was just a yellow cake with fudge filling and vanilla butter cream used to "dirty ice" it. The bottom is two 9" square cakes and the top is 2 5" round cakes. I used 4 store bought cake mixes.

The MMF was tinted hot pink and black with a store brand gel food dye (not Wilton's maybe called American dream, I think). When tinting black, it takes more dye than you think and it does turn darker as it sets. At first it always looks purple to me.

Can you tell the layers are a negative of each other...the bottom is pink with black stripes and the top is black with pink stripes?

Cover the base layer first. Roll out MMF as thin as you like it. Use corn starch to prevent sticking. To make the zebra strips it is best to use a pizza cutter. The stripes are not perfect and almost always have a pointy tip on one side. Go fast, don't plan it out, look at a picture of a real zebra's stripes and see how they are not exactly the same. Some form a "Y" shape, some are squaty, some are long and lean, just roll with it. It's just MMF, you can squash it back together and reroll it out if you half too.

Lay the stripes on the top part of the cake and let it hang down the side. Use a wet paintbrush, with water, and dampen the under side of the stripes that are hanging down. It makes them stick to the base layer. Position where desired. I go from left to right on one side and then turn the cake and do the other side.

Round cakes are a bit different. You may have to arrange your stripes on the cake dry at first to see if you like it before "gluing" them down with the water. You can curve them more here to fit the circular shape of the cake better.

The balls were made by creating a rope of uniform thickness and then pulling off the same amount of MMF to roll into a ball. I stuck them to the cake board with the white butter cream. Next time I will tint the icing I am using to stick the balls so it is not as noticeable. The topper is a plastic letter "E" from a craft store.

The last step is to use vodka and a paint brush to clean it all up. I erased the black smudges off the pink and gave it a general once over to make it shiny.

At the last second, I made circle cut-outs with the letters that spelled out "Baby" for a decoration.

This Zebra Pattern Baby Shower Cake traveled in a car on a lap well but I did not get to see the guests reactions. I heard she loved it and it went over well though.